TENORI-ON

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Tenori-on wows audiences during Björk tour

PICTURE BY DANIEL GRIFFIN

Björk's current world tour utilises some of the most cutting edge on-stage technology out there, so it's no surprise to find at least one Tenori-on in the thick of it...

Björk's live shows are always something to behold both visually and sonically, but for her current world tour she has devised a way to further enhance the visual feast, revealing all of the cutting-edge technology used on three large plasma screens so that the audience can see exactly what's happening on stage. Björk's band includes Damian Taylor whose rig resembles the bridge of the Starship Enterprise and includes a Yamaha Tenori-on which is displayed on those screens to the wide-eyed crowds during the track Who Is It?. "Björk felt it would be cool to feature the gear," says Damian, " to make it part of the stage set rather than using abstract pre-recorded visuals and projections."

So Yamaha's groundbreaking light sequencer has fitted in perfectly with the visual ethic. Damian adds...
"What was really cool was its 'all in one' approach. I like the way it's really immediate. And it's great to use a hi-tech music device without a computer monitor that encourages you to use your fingers! It's fresh, built on new ideas."

"We thought it would be fun to try it live," he continues. "Who Is It? has lots of spiky and intricate vocal parts on the multitrack which weren't yet represented in the existing brass arrangement so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the Tenori-on's sample playback capabilities. I grabbed a whole bunch of "doops" "boops" "Oooos" and random vocal sounds off the multitrack and loaded them in. The sonic characteristics of the sampled vocals sat perfectly around the warm, heavy brass arrangement and Björk's lead vocal, and then just jamming with the on-board sequencer gave us musical progression and dynamics - plus a really nice bunch of imagery for our video guy, Anthony Cairns, to use on screen."

So what's Damian's favourite aspect about the Tenori-on approach to music making? "I think probably the 'switch on and go' factor," he replies. "It's more like having an instrument than a sequencer, just turning it on and making music. It's a great 'instant' gratification thing for musicians, electronic or otherwise. In the same way you can just pick up an acoustic guitar, or sit at a piano, you can grab the Tenori-on and play. You don't need to boot up a computer, switch on your speakers, set up your mixer, initialise a MIDI track in a sequencer... It has that distilled but fun and usable interface, it's straight up and immediate, compact and self contained."
And Damian is not the only person in the Björk camp to have experimented with this new approach to making music...

"Björk had a good play with it when we first tried it out and she really likes it," says Damian. "She's into the fact that it makes the brain work in a different way, breaks routines and habits. I have a feeling she'll get more into it after the tour when she heads back to the studio. In the meantime she keeps one in her suitcase for whenever the mood strikes, and she makes a point of mentioning the Tenori-on in my list of instruments when she introduces the band towards the end of our sets."
So how does it feel for Damian to be on such a high profile outing with some of the most cutting edge gear out there? "I do have to remind myself that it's pretty unusual for any band to have a set-up even remotely like this! You can definitely see the crowd reacting to these new things - when I fire up the Tenori-on, for example, they kind of go 'wooh, what's that?!' I wind up with a bunch of emails after each gig from people who have tracked me down online, demanding an explanation! Using the Tenori-on and the other gear is really exciting and fresh for me after all those years in the studio too. I got so used to always using a computer, a mouse, some faders and knobs. Now it's playing music with all these different interfaces, graphics, feedback, tactility - plus thousands of people responding to it... The Tenori-on is a real winner because of its 'one box' approach. Anyone can just chuck it in a bag and hop on the train or drive to a gig, or fire it up anytime in the back of a tour bus as we did.

Damian is also keeping himself busy with recording projects including producing a new artist from New York called Atarah Valentine and his own musical outlet Stone Lions. Mainly, though, he's very excited about working with Björk in the studio again to further develop and explore the methods and lessons they learned from these new instruments in her live shows. "I'm looking forward to burying myself in my little studio in Canada to find more and more cool ways to use them."

NEWS

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Tenori-on captures the imagination of so many different people. From the creative and professional media artist to non-musicians alike, this new form of musical interface is opening many new avenues of musical exploration and creativity.

A recent independent dissertation by UK-based Graham Wynne is a fascinating document as he explores the extent to which instruments such as Electroplankton and Tenori-on are overcoming barriers to creativity in modern music production. With related quotes from Toshio Iwai, Brian Eno, Steve Reich and Norman Fairbanks you can read Graham's dissertation HERE

TENORI-ON WOWS AUDIENCES DURING BJÖRK TOUR

Björk's current world tour utilises some of the most cutting edge on-stage technology out there, so it's no surprise to find at least one Tenori-on in the thick of it...

Read the full story HERE

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION FOR OWNERS OF TENORI-ON

Please click here to read this important announcement about Tenori-On

IMPORTANT UK TENORI-ON PRICING NEWS

Due to the current exchange rate situation its become necessary for us to increase the UK price of Tenori-on. This advance warning of this pending increase gives you a few days to take advantage of the current price before it goes up!

The tenori-on uk online store price will be increased on 1st April 2008 from the current £599 to £629 inc VAT.

THE YAMAHA TENORI-ON REVOLUTION CONTINUES WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF GLOBAL LAUNCH EVENTS

Following the hugely successful media and public launch of the critically acclaimed Tenori-on in the UK, we are excited to announce Tenori-on Global Launch events and a new multi-language website.

Read the full story HERE

Tenori-on really is about the Future of Loops

Future Loop Foundation join the list of high profile Tenori-on users…

Tenori-on fever continues! As demand for this most innovative light and sound sequencer continues to grow, the word is also out in the artist community that this is one must-have, must-play gadget. Mark Barrott, Future Loop Foundation’s technology-loving front man, has been after one since launch and recently finally got his hands on one…

“It really opens your mind to new possibilities,” he says. “It’s Steve Reich for the modern age…” And Mark knows all about new possibilities. A decade ago he was leading the way on the drum n bass scene before turning chillout. Last year’s ‘Album Of The Year’ Memories From A Fading Room spawned a couple of summer soundtrack classics (appearing all over the BBC and Sky TV) and he’s currently gearing up for a ground-breaking audio and visual spectacular tour.

Read the full interview HERE

The list of high profile artists queuing up to get their hands on Yamaha’s Tenori-on is staggering. Many, in fact, have been left disappointed due to short supplies of the innovative light and sound sequencing tone module. So far Björk has been spotted on tour with one in South America and Peter Gabriel is known to be experimenting with one at Real World, but another cutting edge artist lucky enough to get his hands on an early unit was Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet.

NEWS

Tenori-on wows audiences during Björk tour

NEWS

TENORI-ON HELPS OVERCOME BARRIERS TO CREATIVITY

TENORI-ON WOWS AUDIENCES DURING BJÖRK TOUR

IMPORTANT UK TENORI-ON PRICING NEWS

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